Analysts Set Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Target Price at $11.73

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.7273.

ARDX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wedbush cut shares of Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th.

Ardelyx Stock Down 4.2%

ARDX stock opened at $5.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.96 and a beta of 0.55. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $6.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.11.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. Ardelyx’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $259,753.98. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,455,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,711.02. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 6,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $35,600.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 359,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,993,823.84. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,868 shares of company stock worth $359,369 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ardelyx by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,997,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 634,575 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,067,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,152,000 after acquiring an additional 32,393 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 42.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 177,529 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 52,584 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 517.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 66,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 55,704 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,172,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,669,000 after purchasing an additional 21,845 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.